Stirling Knights caused the upset of the season last weekend when they defeated Falkirk Fury at the Mariner Centre in Camelon.

Undefeated in the league, Fury were hoping to continue towards their first title since 2001.

But, with only three seconds left on the clock and Fury leading 66-64, Knights skipper Mark Duncan landed a three-pointer which gave them a thrilling win.

The Knights were up for the game and, having started poorly in the past against their Falkirk rivals, the emphasis for the team was to get points on the board and keep the game close. The first quarter ended 24-18 to Fury, with Connor Rankin showing his potential to keep the Knights in touch.

The second quarter was much the same, with Duncan and Daniel Donnelly combining for 14 points in the period, leaving the Knights trailing by 42-35 at half-time. A good start by the Knights to the third quarter pulled the difference back to four points but with Donnelly on the bench with his fourth foul, Fury started to hit some big shots and made use of their very physical defence to pull away to lead by 14 going into the final period 60-46.

In an eventful last quarter, the Stirling side started well and regained the momentum behind a Rankin three-pointer and a thunderous dunk from big man Matt Dick. Fuelled by these scores, the Knights defence began to take over and outstanding rebounding from Dick and Donnelly allowed Stirling to shut out their opponents.

Big-scoring plays from Jack Burgess and a key defensive spell from David Hannah allowed the Knights to bring the score back level at 64-64 with only 30 seconds remaining and the Knights in possession.

Following a time out, the Knights looked to Donnelly to seal the game and when he made his move to score he appeared to be fouled by Fury’s Greg Foussas, who stole the ball and was fouled himself.

With an unsporting foul called, Fury had two free throws and possession of the ball and looked set to steal the win when Foussas connected on both foul shots to put Fury up 66-64.

On the next play, the Knights defence was immense and they forced a shot clock violation with Fury failing to get a shot up. With just six seconds remaining, coach Pete Duncan called his last time out, which enabled the Knights to take position in the Fury half, and he drew up a play for Knights to score.

On the inbound ball, Fury managed to deflect a pass which gave Stirling another side ball with only three seconds left and down two points.

Rankin couldn’t get a clear pass into Donnelly but he found Duncan, who took one dribble to his left and launched a three-point shot over the Fury team as the time counted down.

As the crowd gasped at what might happen, the ball swished through the net and the Knights won the game 67-66 sparking amazing celebrations from the Stirling contingent and silencing the fierce home crowd, with Fury suffering their first loss in 14 games.

Top performers for Knights were the game’s best player Donnelly, who scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, hero of the hour Duncan had 18 points, with Connor Rankin on 15 points and a tremendous defensive display holding Fury guard Jonny Bunyan to just 14 points. Dick was also a force on rebounds grabbing 14 in the game for his side.

Coach Pete Duncan said: “Buzzer-beater wins are always exciting but given the context of this game and the teams, this was a very special win.

“We knew, if we kept the score tight, we could challenge but when they went up by 14, I thought the fight was over.

“Credit to my team who fought their way back in and refused to be beaten. To win the last quarter 21-6 is unbelievable but it shows everyone what we are capable of. We have challenged every team this year but often lost our way in the vital last quarters of games but we definitely found our way in this game. This is a great sporting moment.”

Knights face joint league leaders Edinburgh Kings on Friday at The Peak with an 8pm tip off, with the Friday Knights Primary League starting from 6pm.